Mail box



. April 24, 1928.

W. F. WEMHOENER NAIL BOX Filed April 24. 1926 Q 7 f/vs/avro/ v wl/iami femhoener Patented Apr. 24,

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFic-E.

' ,WILLIA F. wnmnonnnn, OF ST. Louis, mrs'soum,

' MAIL, Box

Application nieaa r'n 24, was. Serialii'o. 104,850.

- My invention relates to mail receptacles adapted to be built'into the wall of a house whereby mail may be deposited in the recep t-aclefrom the exterior oft-he wall and may be removed from the receptacle by a person inside the house. 1 Preferably Idesirethatmail may be inserted in the receptacle from the inside of the wall also, and maybe removed by a person on the outside of the wall.

The main object-of my invention isito pro-,

above mentioned purposes.

It is desirable in connection with such devices to provide face plates surrounding the openings in the building walls and it isan additional object of my invention to provide such face plates and to provide for their vide a structureparticularly adapted for the mounting in such a way that it will be unneccessary to provide any particular elements in the Wall structure to which the face plates may be attached or, indeed, to avoid attache ing the face plates to the wall at all.

In the accompanyingdrawings which il'-- lustrate a selected embodiment of my inven-') tion:

. p Figure 1 is avertical section through the wall of a house having'my improved recep .tacle mounted therein. V

:Figure 2 is a section taken on the line 22' of F igure'l but showing only'half of is disclosed in" Patent No. 1,477,615, issued to me December 18,, 1923, byfwhich the tilting as indicated-at 9 and 10, and rovided with openings 'forscrews 11 and 12,.respect-ively. A suitable exterior face plate 13 is mount.- ed on the outer ends 9 of bars 8 by means of bushings I14and screws 11 and aninterior face plate 15 is secured to the inner ends 10 i of bars'8 by the screws 12 which are threaded into the inner ends of the'sliding bars. Byremoving screws 11 and 12 theface plates 13-and 15 may be disassembled from the box and thebox built into the wall of a house withoutthe'face plates, which may be applied after allplastering, painting and other Work has-been completed. :The face plates may be then applied and by tightening screws 12 the two face plates will be drawn between each other gripping the wall faces tightly so as to draw the edgesof the faceplates into contact with the wa-llsurfaces and present a neat and workmanhke appearance. The face .platesphowever, will be supported by the brackets? and "will not rely upon their frictional engagement with thefwall surfacesto prevent movement; along the wall.

--..In' connection with my improved receptacle I utilize the mail receiving structure.

of the @mail flap 16 about its pivot 17 causes the structure, it being understood that the other half will be a duplicate of thatjillustrated.

Figure .3 plate. I

Figure 4- is an elevation of the outer face plate and therec eptacle.

Figure 5 is a detail of a portion ofthe receptacle structure as it first appears when applied to the wall. I I The body of my device comprises a sheet is an elevation ofthe inner face the letter --L, or like matter which hasbeen insertedbetween roller 18 andmember 19, -to be projected through the upper part of; the

flap opening. The inner, faceplate 15.. is provided with an inwardly extending chute 20 adapted to-,.par.t-ially support outgoing mail matter which is inserted between elemetal longitudinal box 1, set on end'and hav-.

ing openings at 2, 3, and 4. The opening 2 faces the exterior of the wall and it is through this opening that the incoming mail n'ients 18and 19 of the projecting mechanism. Preferably the lower portion of the outer face plate mounts a bell button 21 from which wiring 22 extendsthrough the wall and around the box to a bell or buzzer within the house.

An incidental feature of my invention is the forn'iing of the flange 23 on the upper end ofplate 24. The ends of flange 23 being unconnected to the sides 6 and'free to be bent over the upperedge'25 of the outer wall, irrespective of any irregularities of openings in the wall due to rough cutting out of the In my drawings I illustrate a building having an inner and anlouter wall between which may mail box is mounted. .It is to be understood that the box may be inserted in a brick or tile wall also or in a wall of any other desired construction without eliminating any of the advantages referred to and, in my claims, references to interior and exsuch modifications of the. details of my in-3 vention as may be suggested in its commercial development so long as the gist of my invention as expressed in the claims is retained. j

I claim:

1.- In combination with a mailbox adapted to be built into a wall, a face "plate for the exterior wall, a face plate for the interior wall, and means mounted on said box for drawingsaid face plates towards each other and gripping said walls between them.

'2. In combinationwith a mail box adapted to be built into a wall, a face plate for the exterior wall, a face plate for the interior wall, and means mounted on said box for drawing said face plates towards each other, independently of movement of the body of the box, and gripping said walls between them.

3. In combination with a mail box adaptd to be built into a wall, a face plate for the exterior wall. an element secured to said plate and extending into the box, a face plate for the interior wall, and a member thereon adapted to be adjustably engaged with said element for securing said face plates'in position.

lxIn combination with a mailbox adapted to be built into a. wall, a face plate for the exterior wall, an element secured to'said plate and extending into the box, and slidably mounted on the side wall of the latter, a face plate-for the exterior Wall, and a member thereon adapted to be adjustably engaged with said element.

5. In a: mail box adapted to be built into a wall, an open ng for incomlng ma1l,a receptacle for such mail below said opemng,

jacent to the front of the box.

an opening for outgoing mail, a face plate for the interior wall surface adjustable relatively-to said box, and a chute mounted on said face plate and projecting into said box to support outgoing mail above said receptacl 6. In a mail box adapted to be built into a wall, an opening for receiving incoming mail, a receptacle for such mail below said opening, an opening for receiving outgoing mail, a face plate'for the interior wall surface adjustable relatively to said box, and a chute secured to said face plate and-projecting into and slidably mounted on the interior of said box and adapted to support outgoing mail above said receptacle and ad- 7. In a man boxeadapted to be built into the wall of a house, face plates on opposite sides of the box adjustably assembled with each other there being an opening in one of said plates for incoming and outgoing mail, a receptacle for incoming mail below the level of said opening, there being an opening in the other of said plates of said box for outgoing mail, and means for holding outgomg mail ad acent to sald firstmentloned opening.

8. In a mail box adapted to be built into thewall of a house, face plateson opposite sides of the box adjustably assembled with each other therebeing an opening in one of said plates for incoming and outgoing mail,

a receptacle for incoming mail below. the level of said opening, there being an Open ing: in the other of said face plates for outgoing ma1l,,and means for holding outgoing mail adjacent to said first inentionedopening, and means for projecting outgoing mail so held outwardly through said first men tioned opening when incoming mail is'inserted therethrough.

In-testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature this 22nd day of April, 1926.

IVILLIAM F. IVEMHOENER. 

